In one aspect, a wheel end monitoring apparatus comprising a wheel hub configured to receive a wheel rim and be clamped therewith. The wheel end monitoring apparatus further includes a power source, at least one sensor, and communication circuitry that are rotatable with the wheel hub. The at least one sensor is configured to detect at least one property of the clamped wheel hub and the wheel rim. The at least one property is indicative of the clamping of the clamped wheel hub and the wheel rim. The communication circuitry is configured to wirelessly communicate data associated with the at least one property to an external device.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
2. The wheel end monitoring apparatus of claim 1 wherein the studs and the at least one sensor is configured to detect at least one of: stud stress, stud strain, stud length, and nut torque.
3. The wheel end monitoring apparatus of claim 1 wherein the power source, the at least one sensor, and the communication circuitry are embedded in the wheel hub.
6. The wheel end monitoring apparatus of claim 1 wherein the power source is configured to harvest energy from rotation of the wheel hub.
7. The wheel end monitoring apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first sensor includes a capacitive sensor, the at least one sensor configured to detect the at least one property of the clamped wheel hub and wheel rim based on a measured capacitance.
9. The wheel end monitoring apparatus of claim 8 wherein the at least one processor is configured to monitor the at least one property and cause the communication circuitry to wirelessly communicate the at least one property to the external device upon the at least one property having a predetermined relationship with at least one threshold.
10. The wheel end monitoring apparatus of claim 1 wherein the power source includes at least one battery configured to rotate with the clamped wheel hub and wheel rim.
11. The wheel end monitoring apparatus of claim 1 further comprising the external device, wherein the external device includes a gateway configured to receive electrical power from an electrical system of the vehicle, the gateway configured to communicate with the communication circuitry using a short-range wireless protocol and to communicate the data to a cloud-based computing system via a wide area wireless network.
12. The wheel end monitoring apparatus of claim 1 further comprising a processor configured to communicate an alert in response to the at least one property of the clamped wheel hub and wheel rim being at least one of: greater than an upper threshold, less than a lower threshold, and outside of a predetermined range.
13. The wheel end monitoring apparatus of claim 1 wherein the sensor comprises the first sensor and a second sensor, the second sensor outside of the internal compartment of the stud.
17. The wheel end monitoring apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first sensor includes a capacitive sensor configured to convert a measured capacitance to a signal indicative of the distance between the capacitive sensor and the displacement member.
20. The wheel end monitoring apparatus of claim 19 wherein the capacitive sensors are in the stud head portions, the capacitive sensors detecting the at least one property based upon capacitance between the capacitive sensors and the displacement members.
25. The wheel end monitoring apparatus of claim 18 wherein the at least one property includes at least one of tension, length, strain, and stress of the fasteners studs.
26. The wheel end monitoring apparatus of claim 18 wherein the capacitive sensor includes an upper capacitor plate portion and the displacement member includes a lower capacitor plate portion.
28. The method of claim 27 further comprising facilitating determination by a remote computer a current failure mechanism of the wheel end components, a predicted failure mechanism of the wheel end components, or a combination thereof.
30. The method of claim 27 wherein the at least one property includes at least one of: stress, strain, torque, and a dimension.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
October 8, 2020
February 27, 2024
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